Cooking my way through the alphabet

50 Nifty

I promised to commit to blogging again and then, clearly, I didn’t. Do you hate me? I don’t blame you. In my defense it’s been a really fantastic, but really busy few months. Now I’m back though with brand new kitchen and a brand new project.

First up, the new kitchen. Well I’ve just moved in with my boyfriend so I’m still cooking for two, but now I’m cooking in new digs. His kitchen, I guess I should say “our” kitchen now, is bigger than my old one, but still tiny because that’s life in a New York City pre-war apartment. The thing that makes me happiest about the kitchen though is… wait for it… wait for it… I now have a dishwasher! Did you hear that people, I have a dishwasher. I just teared up a little thinking about that.

Ok on to the project. Introducing the 50 States project! If you can’t figure it out from the title, I’ll be cooking a recipe that represents each state in this glorious nation of ours.

This project will differ from the original 26 Dishes project in that I’m not striving for authenticity here. For the international recipes I really tried to only change things if I was allergic to an ingredient or it was impossible to get in this country. Sometimes I’ll make a recipe so synonymous with a state that I may try and make it authentic, but in many cases, the state recipes will be more interpretive. I have no timeline for this project either. It might take 2 years or 10; I’m in no rush.

I’ve enlisted some friends to suggest foods and dishes from their home states, but would love to hear from all of you out there. What foods/dishes are synonymous with your home state? Is there some kind of specialty at one of your area restaurants that’s a hit with locals? What are your great food memories in other states you’ve visited?

4 comments on “50 Nifty”

Yea! You are back! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. For North Dakota, casseroles and hot dishes are very popular but you probably don’t want to make those as they are kind of a mess of ingredients… But some popular dishes are lefse (kind of a potato-based tortilla although that does not do them justice) and knefla soup (which is a dumpling soup). For Minnesota, you already know about this but Jucy Lucy’s are very popular – and yes that is how they spell “Jucy” when that burger is on a menu. They use all sorts of different cheeses but my favorite is just a classic cheddar. Besides that, lutefisk is popular but um, gross. I would never in a million years even take a bite of that crap! Lastly – wild rice dishes are very popular in Minnesota so you would have lots of options there, from soup to wild rice stuffing to wild rice burgers! Yum. :)

LOVE this new project and will be personally disappointed if you don’t complete it by the end of the year (because I’m just so excited to read each entry). I have lived in a number of different areas, so here are some thoughts:

Missouri: toasted ravioli is definitely a big one in St. Louis. Also, the following dishes were created for or became famous at the 1904 World’s Fair (in St. Louis) — ice cream cones, hot dogs, iced tea, hamburger on a bun.

Massachusetts: Wellfleet oysters are famous; seafood in general; New England clam chowdah, of course! Also, people in Boston eat ice cream year round, so you’ll probably want a little of that for dessert. In December. ha.

North Carolina: pork barbecue is a must; boiled peanuts and Hatteras style chowder (haven’t had either, but have heard of them).

I love your enthusiasm for this project. Thanks! So between moving and getting ready for a business trip that will run in to a vacation I haven’t had much time to think of recipes, but I’ll be back strong after I get back. For now you’ll have to put up with travel photos from Seattle and Colorado.